Entries in Deadly
(2)

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- As many had feared, May not only turned out to be the deadliest month in Iraq since American forces left the country a year-and-a-half ago but also the month with the most fatalities since June 2008.

According to statistics released last Saturday by the United Nations, at least 1,045 civilians and security personnel died in May due to violence, largely because of the rise in sectarian conflicts.

The greater Baghdad area alone accounted for more than half of those killed by insurgents and militants seeking to stir up simmering animosities between Sunnis and Shiites.

Car bombs and other types of explosives were the primary killing instruments used.

Calling May's death toll "a sad record," Martin Kobler, special representative of the UN secretary-general for Iraq, said, "Iraqi political leaders must act immediately to stop this intolerable bloodshed."

Nonetheless, his requests for national unity seem to be falling on deaf ears with Sunni lawmakers and tribesmen blaming him for conditions leading to a revival of sectarian tensions.

The U.N.'s death toll may be called into dispute since Iraqi officials claim it's closer to 580. However, the international body claims its numbers are more accurate, saying they're based on direct investigation and credible outside sources.

Photo Courtesy - ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images(KHAR, Pakistan) -- At least 40 people were killed and another 50 injured when a suspected female suicide bomber attacked a crowd of people receiving aid Saturday in a tribal region of Pakistan near the Afghan border.

“She threw a hand grenade, and before the security force could respond, she detonated herself,” an area official told The New York Times.

Several of the victims were reportedly children.

The attack is the latest in a string of violence in northwest Pakistan.